Gobbledygeek episode 158, “My Body Is a Road Map of Pain (feat. Eric Sipple),” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

After our adventures with clown dolls, Reagan-era values, and disgusting eating habits with Poltergeist, Gobbledyween continues on with ghosts of a different sort in Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners. Paul and AJ are joined by frequent guest/utter masochist Eric Sipple to discuss the underrated 1996 horror-comedy, yet another cult classic which Universal botched, moving it from a perfect Halloween release date to a summer during which it had to contend with Independence Day. The boys are happy to discover that it holds up, that its elaborate special effects are still impressive, and that it’s actually pretty damn disturbing. How well Jackson balances the darker stuff with some very broad laughs is another matter, and here’s another: does that opening scene need to exist? We have the answer. Plus, Paul almost died! For real! Not an imaginary story!

Next: rev your chainsaws and put on your prettiest skin-mask, boys and girls, because Gobbledyween is taking a look back at the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre.